Sports

Fort Morgan girls pull off upset in Sterling

By Brandon Boles

Times Sports Reporter

Posted:
12/06/2017 12:44:52 PM MST

Coming off their 0-3 run in the Vista PEAK Bison Bash, Fort Morgan girls basketball coach Andy Schon went back to work with his team to get on track. Defense was the priority in practice on Monday and going into their next game with the 3A No. 6 ranked Sterling Tigers.

The work in practice paid off as Fort Morgan escaped with the 32-31 upset for their first win of the season.

"The girls knew that in order to win, we had to play an exceptionally disciplined game both defensively and offensively," Schon said.

A couple of keys for the team on defense were picking up the communication with each other, rebounding and winning the 1-on-1 battles on that end of the court, according to Schon. He mentioned a number of girls that stood out for their defensive effort in the win Tuesday.

"Maddie Griffth did an amazing job all night long on Sterling's best offensive threat, staying in front of her all night long and forcing her to settle for jump shots," Schon said. "Both Hallee and Kelsey Shaver limited the production of their outside shooters and Haley controlled the paint on both ends of the floor."

Fort Morgan opened the game on a 7-0 run to get some momentum and settle any early nerves against their top-10 opponents early. They would hold the Tigers to one field goal in the quarter from Jenna Knudson to put the Mustangs in front 9-2. The lead for the Mustangs would be cut to six points before the half, but the lead would be pushed to double digits in the third when they outscored Sterling 12-6.

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The Mustangs would lead 32-26 in the final minute of the game and had chances to shut the door late with free throws. Missed free throws in the final minutes kept the Tigers in the game and they would make it interesting late. Two free throws and a 3-pointer with 11 seconds remaining pulled the Tigers within one point. Schon drew up an inbound play to have Lauren Keller throw the ball to Allie Christensen, who would then inbound the ball back to Keller. Lewis would eventually get fouled with five seconds remaining and missed both free throws. One final desperation attempt would come up empty for Sterling in the final second and Fort Morgan escaped with the win.

Lewis led the team with 17 points and seven rebounds in the win. Hallee Shaver tied Lewis for the lead in rebounds with seven and led the defense with four steals. Griffith and Keller each recorded three steals and the team had 14 total for the game. Schon also credited his bench for productive minutes on the court.

The Mustangs improve to 1-3 overall with the win and will look to win their second game against a Patriot League opponent on Friday when they host the Platte Valley Broncos at 7 p.m.

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